Water elevator



June 12, 1923. I v v H. C. RATH.

WATER ELEVATOR Filea April 18} 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1- V vwewtoz #9117 2% June 12, 1923. 1,458,850

' c. RATH WATER ELEVATOR Filed April 18 .1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 3 vwewtoz position.

Patented June 12, 1923. i

' HEN-RY 0. BATH, or APPLETON, WISCONSIN.-

WATER ELEVATOR.

Application filed April is, 192 2, Serial No; 554,483.

To allwhomz't may concern: 7

Be it known that I, HENRY C. RATE, a citizen of the United States, residing'at Ap pleton, in the county of Outagamie and btate of \Visconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in Water Elevators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to water elevators and has for its principal object the'novel construction of a spiral tube elevator in which the convolutions of a spiral blade and a spacing strip, are arranged in alternation upon a shaft and brought into tightly assem bled relationship for initial assembly, by the simple act of tightening a nut positioned, on one end of said shaft, externally of said spiral tube.

Another'object of the invention is the method of'making the spiral tube elevator, in which. the drawing together ofthe loosely-- assembled parts by an externalnut is a char acteristic step. I i t i A further object of "the invention is" the novelconstruction of'spiral tube elevator in which-the elevating parts are. mounted upon ahollow shaft which is removably arranged upon a drive shaft and secured thereto by a suitable hold fast device, such as a nut, which th-readedly engages an end of said hollow shaft, being itself fiize dlyse-i cured to the drive shaft.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a spiral tube water elevator drivenifrom gearing adjacent its upper end andhaving a circular guard rotatable there-, with. between its upper end and said gear: ing, and having a portion thereof continually opposite the point of discharge of said water elevator. i f

With the above and other'objects in v view, my invention consists in the improved Water elevator illustrated in ,the' accompanying drawings, described inthe following speci; fication, and particularly claimed, and in such variations andmodifications thereof as will be obvious to thoseskilled in the artto which my invention relates. I

In the drawings accompanying and'fo'rm ing a part of thisspecification, and wherein the preferred embodiment .of my invention is illustrated: Y t a f v v Figurel is a sideelevation of a water elevator embodying my invention in operative Figure 2 isa side elevator with the casing removed.

Figure 3 is a side elevation,.partly' inf cross sect10n, of the water elevator showing.

a step in its construction.

Figure 4 is a side elevation ofthe hollow shaft upon, which the blade of thewaterelevator is mounted.

elevation of the water Figure 5 is a side view ofthe drive shaft. F1gure6 1s a view in perspective of ahalf f section, two of which suitably attachedtothe water elevator.

ferring now in ures, the numeral 1 mill-race, or other reservoir water or other liquid which elevate to a higher level within the retain-t gether form one convolution of the blade of containing the ing wall2. For this is provided, suitably supported in, aninclined. position, in which is journalled. the

shaft 4 having the upper 'end thereof car-- ried 1n a bearing 25 arranged in adjacency to it is desired to detailtothe several represents the-side of a purpose a bearing 3 a line shaft 5, and vbeingprovided with a V bevel gear. 6 igidly secured thereto and bevel gear 7 fixmesh with a corresponding edly secured to said line'shaft. While the bearing 3 may be made of metalit isprefer ably made from a; non-corrosive wood such as lignum vitae, which tThe water elevator 8 is mounted upon the shaft l with its; lower end constantly sub mergedjbeneath the waterlevel in the millraceor other reservoir, and its upper end, open to dischargeover the top of the retaining-wall 2. The construction of the Water elevator is best shown in Figures 2 to 6 inelusive, and comprises a hollow shaft 9;

which is detachably secured to the drive shaft 4. A spiral blade 10 is mounted loosely,

rality of sections 11, one of which is shown on the hollow shaft 9, and comprises a plue works well under water and does not requirelubrication. I i

section into the, form of a spiral, the outer edge of said section beingicrimped or bent over to form a flange 12 which affords a means to which the casing 13 of the spiral tube conveyor is riveted as shown at 14 in Figure 3. Two of said sections 11 form a single convolution of the spiral blade and.

as many as desired are riveted or otherwise secured together in series to form a blade of the required length. A flat strip 15 is wound spirally around the hollow shaft 9 beginning at a point outside of the first convolution of the spiral blade and passing into the space between successive convolutions until it terminates outside of the last convolution of said blade. This strip serves as a spacing member for said convolutions and to hold them rigidly in place. The outer ends of the spiral strip are cut off in planes at right angles to the axis of the shaft 4, forming cylindrical ends 16 which are housed within annular recesses 17 formed between the enlarged ends of the nuts 18 and the surface of the hollow shaft 9.

The ends of the shaft 9 are threaded as shown at 19 for engagement with threaded bores in the nuts 18. By this means the nuts 18, or either one of them may be advanced against one of the ends of the strip 15 to compress the latter to draw its spiral convolutions into intimate contact with the convolutions of the spiral blade 10, thus clamping said blade and spacing strip rigidly together.

While the means just described may serve as the sole means of securing the blade 10 to the hollow shaft 9, it is preferred to unify the construction of said parts by soldering. When this has been completed the casing is applied to the water elevator in the form of a spiral strip, the convolutions of which overlap as at 20 in the line of the flanges 12 of the spiral blade and are riveted together and to said spiral blade as shown at 14: in Figure 3. The outer ends of the tube formed by the casing 13 terminate in planes which lie at right angles to the shaft 9.

Said shaft 9 is removably secured to the drive shaft 4 by means of nuts 21, each of which has a threaded bore at one end to engage one of the threaded ends of the hollow shaft 9. The nuts 21 are counter-bored at their opposite ends to fit the shaft 4, upon which they are mounted and secured in place by set screws 22 shown in Figure 5. Should it be desirable for any reason to remove the water elevator from the shaft 1, it is necessary only to release one of the set screws 22, unscrew the nut 21 from the threaded end of the hollow shaft 9, remove said nut from the shaft 4 and then withdraw the shaft 4 from thespiral tube of the water elevator.

Mounted on the shaft 4: near its upper end above the nut 21 is a hub or collar which is rigidly secured to said shaft and which carries a circular guard 24: of a diameter at least equal to the diameter of the casing 13. The guard 24: rotates with said spiral tube and is for the, purpose of deflecting the water discharged from the upper end .of the water elevator away from the gears 6 strip,

and 7, thus preventing the wetting and corrosion of said gears and preserving the efficiency of their lubrication. The upper end of the casing 18 is provided with a funnel shaped lip 26 which directs the discharging water away from they casing and prevents its running down the outside thereof.

The water elevator operates according to the principle of the well known Archimedean screw and is exceedingly efficient in raising the water to heights limited by atmospheric pressure. By the method of construction herein set forth, I have provided simple and inexpensive means whereby to fabricate a device of the character described by great simplicity and ease of manufacture and having structural features of a decidedly novel and useful character.

It will be understood that various changes may be made in the formand relation of parts to suit different requirements of use, and that the invention, therefore, is not limited to the precise details of construction and arrangement shown.

having described my invention what 1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A water elevator comprising a shaft, a spiral conveyor blade arranged upon said shaft, a spacing strip wound along said shaft between the successive convolutions of said blade, and means cooperating with said shaft for drawing the convolutions of said blade and strip into tight relationship.

2. A water elevator comprising a shaft, a

spiral conveyor blade arranged upon said shaft, a spacing strip wound along said shaft between the successive convolutions of said blade, and means engageable with said shaft fOr confining the ends of said spacing along said shaft toward one another for drawing the convolutions of said blade and strip into tight relationship.

3. A water elevator comprising a shaft, a spiral conveyor blade arranged upon said shaft, a spacing strip wound along said shaft between the successive convolutions of said blade, said strip terminating outside of the first and last convolutions of said blade respectively, and means for confining said ends of the spacing strip, one of said means threadedly engaging said shaft and being advanceable toward the other of said means for drawing the convolutions of said blade and shaft into tight relationship.

4. A water elevator comprising a shaft, a spiral conveyor blade arranged'upon said shaft, said blade being constituted by a series of flanged half-convolutions secured to- .gether in series, a spacing strip wound along said shaft between the successive convolutions of said blade, means cooperating with said shaft for drawing the convolutions of said blade and strip into tight relationship,

said means being relatively movable and a casing surrounding said blade and secured to said flanged convolutions.

5. A water elevator comprising a shaft, a spiral conveyor blade arranged upon said shaft, said blade being constituted by a series of flanged half-convolutions secured together in series, a spacing strip wound along said shaft between the successive convolutions of said blade, means cooperating with said shaft for drawing the convolutions of said bladeand strip into tight relationship and a casing comprising a spiral strip surrounding said blade and riveted to said flanged convolutions.

6. A water elevator comprising a drive shaft, a hollow shaft removably secured to said drive" shaft, a spiral conveyor blade arranged upon' said hollow shaft, a spacing strip-wound along said hollow shaft between successive convolutions of said blade, and means on said hollowshaft and cooperating therewith for drawing the convolutions of said blade and strip into tight relationship. 7 A water elevator comprising a drive shaft, a hollow'shaft removably securedto said drive shaft, a spiral conveyor blade arranged upon said hollow shaft, a spacing strip wound along said shaft and cooperating therewith for drawing the convolutions v and secured thereto and a' guard rotatable with said drive shaft and arranged between said gear and the upper end of said casing.

9. The method of constructing a spiral tube water elevator which consists in arranging a spiral blade around a shaft, winding a spacing strip between the successive convolutions of said blade and drawing the convolutions of said spacing strip and blade clampably together by endwise movement along said shaft. I

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HENRY 0. BATH.

Witnesses:

F man E. ,HARRIMAN, HENRY KREISS.

. 35 shaft between the successive convolutions of said blade, a, casing surrounding said blade 

